Take this Quiz: PSAT Writing — rules, transitions and goals | Zestly

Question 1

This sentence contains a comma splice: 'The chemistry experiment finished at four o'clock, the students tidied the benches before they left.' Which described change repairs it?

Accepted Answer

Replace the comma with a semicolon, since each half is a complete sentence on its own.

Answer

Add a second comma after 'students', so that the subject of the second half is enclosed by a pair of commas.

Answer

Delete the comma, so that the two halves run straight on into each other.

Answer

Replace the comma with a colon, since the second half explains what is meant by the first.

Question 2

Consider the sentence: 'The library is closed for renovations all students must use the digital archives until next month.' Which of the following options correctly describes how to fix the run-on sentence?

Accepted Answer

Insert a period after the word renovations to create two separate sentences.

Answer

Insert a comma after the word renovations to separate the clauses.

Answer

Remove the word all to make the second clause a dependent phrase.

Answer

Replace the word must with a comma to create a single clause.

Question 3

Consider the sentence: 'The collection of rare historical maps, including several hand-drawn charts from the eighteenth century, are stored in the climate-controlled vault.' Which of the following options correctly describes how to fix the subject-verb agreement error?

Accepted Answer

Change the word are to is to agree with the singular subject collection.

Answer

Change the word maps to map to match the verb.

Answer

Change the word century to centuries to match the verb.

Answer

Change the word vault to vaults to match the verb.

Question 4

This sentence contains a dangling modifier: 'Walking through the park, the trees appeared to be changing colour.' Which described change repairs it?

Answer

Make the main clause name whoever was walking — for instance, 'Walking through the park, we saw that the trees were changing colour.'

Answer

Change 'Walking' to 'Walked', so that the opening phrase is in the past tense.

Answer

Move the opening phrase to the end, so the sentence finishes with 'walking through the park'.

Answer

Change 'the trees' to 'the trees in the park', so that the opening phrase has a park to attach to.

Question 5

A student writes: 'Dr Aris, the lead researcher on the project — decided to publish the findings immediately.' What is wrong with the punctuation, and how should it be repaired?

Answer

Nothing is wrong: a comma may open a supplement and a dash may close it.

Answer

The supplement is opened with one mark and closed with a different one; use the same mark at both ends — two commas, two dashes, or a pair of brackets.

Answer

Delete the dash and keep the comma, so that the supplement is set off once.

Answer

Delete the comma and keep the dash, so that the supplement is set off once.